What’s this I hear about Joan Burton stepping down as Labour leader?
I’m afraid it’s true. The Labour Party’s constitution requires that a leadership contest take place after a general election that does not result in the party entering government. Labour received a thumping and decided to go into opposition, so even if Joan had wanted to stay on she would have had to put herself before the membership of the party for their approval. She did toy with the idea, telling colleagues that she might seek to stay on, but their response was somewhat unenthusiastic. She announced her resignation on Tuesday.
I’m going to miss her
We all are. But especially the satirists Mario Rosenstock and Oliver Callan, who delighted in impressions, lampooning her viciously as caterwauling her way through Dáil debates and interviews.
So there’ll be an election for leader now?
Er, maybe. A number of candidates – Alan Kelly, Brendan Howlin, Jan O'Sullivan and Sean Sherlock – have indicated their interest. They have been consulting their families and supporters, and, you know, looking into their own hearts.
What’s really going on?
Alan Kelly, who is deputy leader, wants to run. But most of his colleagues would prefer if Brendan Howlin could be persuaded to stand as an agreed candidate. On Thursday the parliamentary party chairman, Willie Penrose, said he didn't think "chasing around the country for about four or five weeks is a productive use of time". He wants a "consensus candidate", he said. Other senior Labour figures also wonder if spending half the summer talking to itself about itself is the best way forward for the party. Howlin did an interview with Morning Ireland on Wednesday in which he said he was interested in running but hadn't fully made up his mind. He will inform colleagues next week, but many believe that if he wasn't going to run he would hardly have pitched up on Morning Ireland to talk about the leadership.
Has Kelly had trouble finding a seconder?
Under Labour’s rules any candidate for leader must be nominated and seconded by TDs. Anyone can nominate themselves, but they must find a seconder from among the party’s TDs. Penrose and Burton say they won’t support any candidate, so that leaves only four TDs to second Kelly’s nomination. And some of them are determined that he won’t be leader. Kelly says it would be a “denial of democracy” were a contest not facilitated, but the anti-Kelly TDs have been meeting privately and are determined to prevent him from becoming leader.
Why are some of Kelly's colleagues so opposed to him?
Kelly has a brash personality and a direct manner. Also, they question his judgment: an interview with the Sunday Independent at the beginning of the general election campaign in which he said that power was "a drug" but that it suited him horrified many Labour people. His supporters say, however, that his energy and straight talking are just what the bruised party needs. He is popular with many Labour councillors, and if there is a leadership election he will be hard to beat.
